1 infant dead, 1 in critical condition after being left in SUV for hours

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- A 6-month-old child is dead and a twin sibling is in critical condition after being found unresponsive inside of a SUV in Chesterfield County Thursday afternoon.

Police said around 2:29 p.m., officers responded to a report that two children were found unresponsive in a vehicle at the Bellwood Maisonettes, in the 2400 block of Alfalfa Lane, near Jefferson Davis Highway.

Crime Insider sources say the 6-month-old infants were left inside the car for multiple hours.

Chesterfield Fire and EMS spokesperson Lt. Jason Elmore confirms the children were transported to Chippenham Hospital. One of the infants was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Those sources said the child that died at the hospital was a boy, and the other child, who is in critical condition according to police, is a girl.

Neighbors say the father of the children found them in his SUV.

A woman who lives a few doors down defended the children's parents through tears.

"They go to work they come home to their kids. They're not any trouble, they're awesome," the woman, who declined to be identified, said.

"It's tragic what happened, I don't even know how to help them with their pain. It was certainly not an intentionally negligent act, it was a horrific mistake that can never be erased," another neighbor, Donna Gusti, said.

Gusti said she works at a nearby Waffle House with both parents.

Neighbors said the parents have an older child as well.

"One of them is always home with the kids, they're working on their schedules, it's hard, it's been really hard trying to do it all and have babies but they're doing it," Gusti said.

The woman who lives next door to the family said the wife was at work Thursday afternoon when she called her.

"His wife called me at 2:00 to wake him up to come and get her from work and that's when everything happened. That's when he found the babies in the car," the next door neighbor, who declined to be identified, said.

She believes the husband just forgot the babes remained in the car when he got home from dropping his wife off at work.

Police are continuing to investigating the cause of the incident.

Anyone with information should contact the Chesterfield County Police Department at 804-748-1251 or Crime Solvers at 804-748-0660 or through the P3 app.

Stay with CBS 6 for the latest on this developing story. Anyone with more information can submit a news tip here.